McALESTER ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, Okla. -- First responders' skills were put to the test during an annual Army Protection Program exercise at this remote installation nestled in southeast Oklahoma on Nov. 29.
The fictional, full-scale exercise simulated an insider-vehicle ramming attack against a group of employee partygoers on the installation, prompting security forces, firefighters and paramedics to respond as if it were real.
For days leading up to the exercise, the security forces were fed pieces of information from the master scenario events list, or MSELs. The MSELs link simulation to action, enhance the exercise experience for players, and reflect an incident or activity that will prompt players to implement the policy or procedure being tested, said Duane Bestul, MCAAP's antiterrorism officer and the event organizer.
Within minutes, security forces had arrived on scene and apprehended the perpetrator, who plowed a pickup truck containing two 55-gallon containers with a suspected hazardous material that had broken open into a group of people. After exiting the vehicle, the perpetrator began stabbing and slashing the injured.
When firefighters and paramedics arrived, they found employees strewn about the scene with a variety of simulated injuries.
After treating and removing them from the scene, the firefighters were challenged to identify, contain and determine the course of action for the suspected hazardous material.
While the attack was simulated, the response was practiced as if it were real.
Recent annual exercises at MCAAP involved an active shooter scenario, but this year, security officials injected a simulated unknown and potentially hazardous material, which was determined by the firefighters to be ammonium perchlorate, a rocket propellant ingredient.
The perpetrator, as written into the scenario, was a disgruntled employee.
"In any organization, an insider could be a threat because of their access and legitimate knowledge," said Bestul.
"In the past year, we've seen insider threat incidents not only in the United States, but also overseas. We've even seen them in Oklahoma City in recent years."
Bestul was pleased with the overall outcome that identified areas where MCAAP can improve its response.
"The goal is to neutralize the threat, secure the area and then get the paramedics in there," he said. "The players accomplished those goals, but like with any exercise, we've identified things we can do better."
MCAAP is one of 17 installations of the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial base facilities under the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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